Bennington Pontoon Reupholstery

Bennington builds a great pontoon, but a decade of Southwest Florida sun is hard on any factory upholstery. By the time this one reached us, the gray and white vinyl had faded, a few seams had opened, and the foam had packed down flat.

We reupholstered the whole layout, wrap-around loungers, the aft bench, the helm seat and the changing-room cushion, in a coordinated gray and white scheme that stays true to the boat's clean, modern look.

Pontoons are almost all open seating, so on a boat like this a reupholstery is really a full-deck project. Doing it all at once is what keeps the color and texture consistent from bow to stern, instead of a patchwork of old and new panels that never quite match.

The challenge

Matching a factory two-tone look across a full pontoon while upgrading to materials tough enough for constant sun, and rebuilding foam that had gone flat after years of daily use.

What we did

We stripped each cushion to the board, replaced the tired foam with quick-dry marine foam, and recovered the entire set in UV- and mildew-resistant gray and white marine vinyl, sewn with UV-stable thread and reinforced at the high-stress seams.

The result

A Bennington that looks factory-fresh again, with seating that is comfortable, cohesive and ready for years of sandbar weekends.

Thinking about redoing your pontoon?

A few things we tell every pontoon owner before a project like this:

• Do the whole deck at once if you can. Recovering half now and half later almost never matches, because vinyl dye lots and sun-fade are nearly impossible to line up.
• Ask about the foam, not just the vinyl. Flat, waterlogged foam is usually why a pontoon seat feels done, and new covers alone will not fix it.
• Lean toward lighter colors on seats that sit in full sun. They stay noticeably cooler to sit on than dark vinyl on a hot Florida afternoon.
• Rinse the vinyl with fresh water often. It is the single easiest thing you can do to make a recover last, and most owners skip it.

For general upkeep and boating tips between projects, owners can turn to trusted resources like Discover Boating.

See more like this on our Marine upholstery page, or read How Florida Sun and Salt Quietly Destroy Boat Upholstery for the full story behind work like this.

What we did on this job: pontoon boat seat reupholstery and boat cushion and foam replacement.